Measurements of Trackways as a Method for Assessing Locomotion in Dairy Cows

Telezhenko, E. 2005. Measurements of trackways as a method for assessing locomotion in dairy cows. Licentiate thesis. ISSN 1652-750X, ISBN 91-576-6852-3 The aim of this study was to assess whether locomotion parameters obtained by measurements of cow trackways are reliable and sufficiently sensitive to describe locomotion in non-lame and lame dairy cows on different floors. Thirty-two non-lame cows were used to study the reliability of the trackway measurements. The cows were tested twice over three weeks and measurements from four consecutive strides were used during each test session. To study the effect of different floors on locomotion, 25 non-lame cows and eleven cows with different lameness degrees were tested on five different surfaces: solid and slatted concrete, both with and without 20 mm thick elastic rubber mats, and wet, compacted sand. The reliability of the measurements varied from moderate to low, with measurements relating to inter-limb coordination being most inconsistent. The slippery slatted concrete floor caused restricted locomotion in so far as the strides were significantl